BFFs

The sun, shining through the clouds, looking down on her grave. "Joy Millier. March 7, 2000 - July 28, 2020. Beloved by family, cherished by friends." Such dull words for such a wonderful spirit. The only friend I ever had. My other half... Tears rain down my eyes, soaking my face. God, how I wish I could have been there. Been there with her... I shouldn't have left for work. The job SHE got me. Taking out a gun, I aim it at my head. Don't worry, Joy. I'm going with you...

 Some weeks before:

"...Lovely story, but it isn't quite for us. Try again next time!..." Another rejection email. At this rate, I'll never get published. Maybe I should just give up and go home. Living expenses are already too high. I can't afford another month. 

Getting up, Joy calls me.

"About time you responded!!! I thought you were dead!!!" She yelled.

"What are you talking about? You've just called me?" The notifications pop up. "Oh sh*t..." 30 missed calls and 15 messages.

"Oh sh*t, right! How many times have I told you to not put your phone on silent?!"

"Sorry, but how I'm supposed to concentrate if you're blowing up my phone with texts?"

"By concentrating!!! Also, I was gonna tell ya something, but since you're being so mean, I'm won't." Here we go again... This is part of the reason I never have money.

"I know what you want. I'll buy you lunch. Just tell me what it was."

"Read the messages. There you'll find it.~" 

"What? No-" This girl...Hanging up on me. 

Now, after an hour of scrolling through my messages, I have found it! The secret everyone wants to know! 

'I talked to one of my dad's friends. He says that they'll publish you if you give a summary of your story in their contest.' 'Check out the Daily Reads page for the deets.' What?! The Daily Reads! There's no way! They are one of the most famous publishers in the world! 

I go into the website to find that..."No!" I screamed. Why?! Why did it have to be public speaking? I won't do it! No! But it is the only company that wants to publish me...and it is an important, one...No! Still no! I can remember the last time I spoke in front of a lot of people. Ugh. My skin becomes chicken-like at the memory.

6th grade at Ms. Hopkins class. We were presenting our science projects, and my palms wouldn't stop sweating. I had memorized everything. Not a single word was left without being repeated a thousand times. Nothing could go wrong, or at least that's what I thought. When I went up there to present, my mind went BLANK. It wasn't the blank where you didn't remember what you were going to say. No, it wasn't that. It was the type of blank in which you don't even remember how to speak. I opened my mouth, and all that came out was gibberish. Everyone laughed at me...even the teacher. That day, I swore that I would never talk in front of people again!

'Thanks, but I can't do it. Sorry.' I text Joy. She's gonna get so mad...

'WDYM? IT'S THE BIGGEST OPPORTUNITY IN HISTORY!' Yep. She's angry as hell right now. Sometimes she seems more like my mother than a friend.

'Yeah...But don't you remember 'The Incident.''

'Are you still hunged up over that? It's been 8 years.'

'8 awesome years in which I have never gotten embarrassed again.'

'I call chicken. You know what. If you don't do it, I'll block ya.'

'Are you really doing this over a stupid competition?' I know it isn't stupid, but I can't let her take advantage.

'1,2,3. I'm pressing the block button.'

'Ok, ok. I'll do it. If I get made fun of, I'll blame you, though.'

'Yay! See you there. Also, it's on Friday.' What?! It can't be Friday. That's tomorrow. She's probably just messing with me.

'Quit teasing me.'

'I'm not teasing you... I may have kinda have forgotten to tell you when they told me... 2 weeks ago...'

'2 weeks ago! That a heck of a long time!'

'I know... sorry. You still have to do it, though.'

'Ugh...ok..., but I can't promise anything. There's so little time.'

She's gonna kill me one of these days. Like 2 weeks!!! How could she have forgotten something so important! I still love her, though. I can't believe we liked the same drink.

It was 4 years ago, going to order my favorite drink at a cafe I met this weirdo. She was drinking a combination of all the drinks in there. Imagine how THAT would have tasted. Awesome! Actually, that was the same drink I had ordered! For our luck, the drinks there complimented each other. She says that she liked my guts, and that's why she talked to me. My reason? I was totally bored! School was killing me! The only class I actually liked was canceled! Hell was going through my life.

Now I am going through my novel, trying to find a way to gracefully present it. Nothing is working! I tried walks, eating, watching TV. Everything! But still, nothing is working. It's 12:00 AM, and I haven't even started the first sentence... I'm gonna die out there today...

"Uh...uh...I don't know." It's happening again... The words won't come out. I told her it wouldn't work out. Trying to hold in tears, a task bigger than I imagined. Running out of the film stage, they began to fall. The embarrassment, way too much. This is my fault for passing out! If I hadn't been so exhausted...maybe...that doesn't matter. Everyone must think I'm a loser, even Joy...

Someone grabs my hand. Turning around, I see Joy. She smiles, bright like the sun.

"You and I 'till the end." My face brightens. Our song...

"Don't need to pretend."

"Again and Again."

"We'll stick together."

"Come on. Let's go up there, and show them who's the boss!"

"Yeah...Let's go." She's here with me. Always picking me up. If there were a person I would die for, it would surely be her. My BFF...